Is There Potential for Repurposing Statins as Novel Antimicrobials?

Abstract

bStatins are members of a class of pharmaceutical widely used to reduce high levels of serum cholesterol. In addition, statins have so-called "pleiotropic effects," which include inflammation reduction, immunomodulation, and antimicrobial effects. An increasing number of studies are emerging which detail the attenuation of bacterial growth and in vitro and in vivo virulence by statin treatment. In this review, we describe the current information available concerning the effects of statins on bacterial infections and provide insight regarding the potential use of these compounds as antimicrobial therapeutic agents. O ne of the major undisputed clinical breakthroughs of the 20th century was the discovery of the statin family of drugs. These compounds are renowned for their ability to lower cholesterol levels and are used to treat approximately 40 million individuals with high cholesterol levels worldwide. Since the discovery of mevastatin as a metabolic product of Penicillium citrinum in 1976 (1, 2), a total of nine statins have been characterized, seven of which are approved by the FDA to treat patients with high cholesterol. Structurally, statins are characterized by the presence of a conserved lactone ring (3). This structure is present as a hydrolyzed (active) form in all statins except for mevastatin, lovastatin, and simvastatin; in those statins, the lactone ring is hydrolyzed in the liver (4). Statins can be divided into two broad classes (Fig. 1). Type 1 statins are lipophilic and possess a butyryl side chain-they are said to structurally resemble mevastatin (3). Lovastatin, pravastatin, and simvastatin are type 1 statins. Type 2 statins are classically lipophobic and are distinguished from type 1 by the replacement of the butyryl side chain with a fluorophenol group and typically possess larger side chains than type 1 statins (3). Atorvastatin, cerivastatin, fluvastatin, pitavastatin, and rosuvastatin are type 2 statins.Statins exert their cholesterol-lowering effect by binding to the active site of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase (HMGR), a rate-limiting enzyme involved in cholesterol biosynthesis (3). HMGR is an integral part of the mevalonate pathway, which not only is essential for cholesterol biosynthesis but also contributes to the production of isoprenoids, lipid compounds that are essential for cell signaling and structure. As well as inhibition of cholesterol, statins have also been found to have a number of cholesterol-independent, socalled "pleiotropic" effects. Statins have been reported to confer anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, and anticancer effects on host cells, and these effects are well characterized (5-9). Furthermore, several studies have explored the pleiotropic effects of statins in combating multisystem microbial infections, such as sepsis and pneumonia, and a growing number of studies are demonstrating that statins can directly influence the growth and virulence of bacterial pathogens. With the global increase in antibiotic resistance to existing antib...

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Is Heterogeneity in the Effects of Statins on Infection Outcomes across Clinical Studies Due to Bias?

“…e read with great interest the review about the usefulness of statins as antimicrobials published by Hennessy et al (1). We agree that future prospective studies focusing on statin and pathogen specificities are warranted.…”

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Bronchiectasis and cough: An old relationship in need of renewed attention

“…Statins are members of a pharmaceutical class with a primary indication of lowering serum cholesterol. Statins exert powerful immunological effects and have antimicrobial properties [63,64]. Given these pleiotropic effects, the potential therapeutic application of statins to other conditions including respiratory disease has been studied [63].…”